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November 24, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

On November 25, 1976, the five members of The Band -- Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson - played their last concert together. It was billed as The Last Waltz.

The Thanksgiving Day show (all 5,000 tickleholders were given a full sit-down turkey dinner before the show) was held at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom and was filmed by Martin Scorsese. Besides the official releases, a black and white video of the entire show, filmed from the mixing desk, circulates as a bootleg ("The Lost Waltz") -- and the complete concert is also available. That's what we have here -- from the Mouth of the Beast label. (There does not seem to be any art for the MotB set; there is some here, but it's a different release.) Enjoy the show, Mike!

So what makes The Last Waltz the best rock and roll film of all time? There are the songs and the musicians, of course, but the key is Scorsese. He decided beforehand how he wanted to shoot every single song -- he storyboarded the entire show. I don't think I have ever seen video footage of a live band that has been shot like The Last Waltz (though it can't be unique). What you usually are given is seemingly random quick cuts between the various cameras, hectic and not timed in any way to the flow of music; any sense of the musicians playing as a group is lost (or maybe wasn't even considered as important). Scorsese framed several of the musicians in many shots, often stayed on one person for quite awhile, and captured subtle gestures and interactions between the musicians.

One great example of the camera work is towards the end of "It Makes No Difference" (why does this have subtitles?). A camera at stage right has a spotlighted Hudson and his sax in the foreground, then he steps back but we stay with that shot, with Robertson, Danko, and Helm further away, towards the middle of the stage, as Robertson solos a little bit. Then the camera pulls slightly back and Hudson steps forward again with his sax. It's one continuous camera angle. Brilliant.

There are so many highlights -- from the interviews (the beginning of the beginning of the end of the beginning ... Marshmallow Overcoat ... an adult dose ... and what's it called?) and the concert (Manuel's jacket, Hawkins fanning Robbie's guitar with his hat, Morrison's jump-suited kicks, a cool Clapton playing rings around Robertson while Robbie sweats and thrashes about) -- but I'll single out my favourite.

I first saw The Last Waltz in 1986, back when Laura and I were still long distance. During one of my weekends in Brooklyn, we rented the movie. I was doing college radio at the time and was a big fan of the American roots rock/cow punk movement, but I was fairly ignorant about Dylan's rootsier rock.Near the end of the film, Dylan and the Band slid into "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" -- and I was floored. It was a revelation. And anytime I have seen it in the nearly 25 years (!) since that night -- including the maybe 10-15 times I either watched the clip or listened to the song while writing this post -- I have never been unfloored. Familiarity has not dulled any of its vitality.

Dylan recorded the traditional folk song way back in 1962 and it was part of his electric set on his infamous 1966 tour with the Band (known then as the Hawks). The song is played at a faster clip in The Last Waltz than it was 10 years earlier -- call it a funky gallop. For all the barbed-wire guitar and Dylan's stupendous vocals (his voice peaked in the mid-70s), the star of the song is Helm. He's doing a ton of shit on the drums -- the fantastic two-beat bump-bump after the main riff that acts like a little kick in the ass, the way he rides his cymbal during the riff, the "god almighty world" lines, and even some of Robbie's bits of solo. He makes the song dance, and never comes anywhere close to cluttering things up.

Watch and listen to this two-song clip. First up is "Forever Young", off Planet Waves, the 1973 album Dylan made with The Band; it did not break any new ground as far as Dylan's canon is concerned, but it's easily one of my Top 5 (maybe Top 3) Bob albums. And then it's into a reprise of BLMFYD, which Dylan had begun his short set with.

Check out Dylan noodling between the two songs at about 4:10. It's one of the best moments in the entire film. Helm is back behind the drums, head cocked, waiting, Robertson's eyes are darting from Dylan's hands to Dylan's face, down to his own hands, Danko is simply staring at Dylan with a fantastic look of anticipation. The final stray notes dissolve into the air, and everyone is watching Dylan -- except us! We have no idea what he is doing. Then Danko starts to slowly smile -- a split-second before the familiar chords start up again. YEAH!

Hawk referring to, and probably looking at, Bill Graham. Interesting that Bill G. wasn't interviewed for the movie, considering how influential he was. I was blown away when you posted this because two days ago I downloaded the Complete Last Waltz from a site online, and despite seeing the movie dozens of times I had never heard the songs that were not included.

Hot damn - you have made my weekend! Or holiday I should say. I don't have time to play with this now, but.....Tommorrow's Thanksgiving! And I'll have several hours to kill before heading ove to the folks' house. I know what I'll be doing :)I absolutely NEVER get tired of The Last Waltz, and I've only heard of, never seen or heard, The Lost Waltz. Can't wait. Thanks

The week The Last Waltz opened in New York City, three friends and I skipped school to go into the city (we lived in the suburbs) and see on it on the big screen, near Rockefeller Center.

My friends and I were all totally hot for Robbie R and Rick Danko, but that day I also had an early glimmer of personal revelation. When Robbie kisses Joni Mitchell, I wasn't sure who I wanted to kiss more. Huh. Interesting.

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Many years later, I turned Allan onto the movie, and when we bought our first VCR, the first tape we bought for it was TLW. Years later when we bought our first DVD player... same thing.

The Concert Movie To End All Concert Movies, and some of the greatest music ever written.

Stop Making Sense is a worthy contender -- a creative stage set-up, a great band and beautifully shot, but as much as I love it, I can't place it higher than #2. The Band's musical background/influences resonate deeper with me. Plus only one of the films has Muddy Waters.

Now, if the Heads had made a SMS-ish film of their 1980-81 with Adrian Belew ...

Diamond's appearance was not popular with all of the other performers. Levon Helm was critical of the inclusion of Diamond, not discerning anymusical connection to The Band, as was Ronnie Wood, who stated in an 1980s interview, "None of us could understand what he was doing there."

Dylan also apparently held him in low esteem: Reportedly, when Diamond came off stage he remarked to Dylan, "You'll have to be pretty good tofollow me", to which Dylan responded, "What do I have to do, go on stage and fall asleep?"